Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 - Extreme, dangerous, and cancelled

Extreme Sailing Series Act 5, Cowes for the first time in the circuit's history has cancelled racing for day five. 'Dangerous' and 'on the edge’ were some of the skipper’s descriptions of the conditions that led to the cancellation of being made. It seems even the Extreme Sailing Series does have its limits in a sport powered by nature.

For the spectators amassed ashore at the Extreme Sailing Series Race Village at Egypt Point it was a delightful afternoon under the summer sun, but on the water the wind was blowing a steady 25-28 knots, combined with a strong tide, and several boats competing in Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week were to be seen in the distance limping back to port with broken masts.

Despite the tide turning at around 15:00 BST, coinciding with the anticipated start of racing, the strong wind conditions were showing no signs of abating and the sea state remained strong. Racing Manager Phil Lawrence said he expected the water to flatten out, but the latest forecast he downloaded at 14:45pm BST indicated winds later in the afternoon would be gusting up to 38 knots and a full gale. 'We waited for the tide to change, but once we saw the new forecast it was definitely not sailable.'

'We had 25 knots of wind and choppy seas' said Alinghi skipper Tanguy Cariou on coming ashore. 'With this kind of boat it can be really dangerous and with the tide the strategy would be to come inshore and with the storm jib it can be really difficult to tack – so the danger would be to end up on the rocks. It was the right decision of the race committee.'

Event Director Gilles Chiorri added that the reason to cancel racing for the day was also due to the local topography. 'We have sailed in very rough conditions with these boats, with up to 30 knots several times, but here in Cowes tide and the proximity of the rocky shore, we know we run the risk of a bad tack or a bad bear away and having a boat completely losing it. We have to accept that we have some limits!'

Chiorri added that this was the first occasion in five years and more than 100 Extreme Sailing Series race days, that the organisers have had to cancel completely. Having ventured out on to the race course to be greeted by the prevailing conditions, the Extreme 40 skippers and crew agreed with the race committee’s decision.

Double Olympic Tornado Gold medalist, Roman Hagara, skipper of Red Bull Extreme Sailing, reckoned it was blowing 28-30 knots when racing was cancelled. 'It is sailable, but when you are racing you are always pushing really hard and, as we saw the other day, if you push it a little bit too far it is quite easy to capsize. I think today it is on the edge. You can always race, but safety comes first and that is the most important thing.'

Adam Beashel is the newbie skipper aboard Emirates Team New Zealand. Coming from Australia Beashel is used to ‘gnarly conditions’- but in lightweight high performance catamarans? 'It is extreme conditions here today,' said the man who has spent much of the last year at the top of the masts of America’s Cup monohulls. 'Even though these boats are called Extreme 40s, there is a limit to what you can look at and the race committee have made the right call. You could well have had some breakages and injuries. It is good to keep everyone safe and there are still two more days of racing to go here so hopefully there will be more action tomorrow and the following day.'

As to his Extreme Sailing Series helming debut Beashel added: 'It is great fun, a great opportunity. It is a steep learning curve here with this class, but I am totally enjoying it. Two hulls are a bit different. Some of the bearaways in a 49er or a skiff are a little easier than they are in these, but the characteristics are similar and you get the adrenalin rush at the same time. It is all exciting.'

Two more days of racing remain at Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Cowes, with Live WEBcam from 14:15BST, however there is concern that conditions will be similar or even stronger tomorrow. 'We’ll take each day as it comes,' concluded Gilles Chiorri.

Current overall standings (provisional) after 17 races
Position / Team / Skipper and crew / Points